Jubilee Hospital burn unit receives financial boost

Burn patients who receive specialized care at the Royal Jubilee Hospital’s burn unit recently received a helping hand with their healing.

The Firefighters Burn Fund of Greater Victoria, which has generated $2.5 million over the past 30 years to support burn survivors, presented a cheque Friday for $346,865 to the Victoria Hospital Foundation’s Building Care Together campaign.

The funds will pay for expensive equipment for adults who are treated at the burn and complex wound-care unit on the seventh floor of the hospital’s new Patient Care Centre.

Equipment needs at the unit range from a shower mister and pressure-relieving mattresses to ceiling mount lifts, among a long list of items.

“We’re trying to give the best healing environment we can for the patients, and if it costs that kind of money, we’re just glad the citizens of (Greater) Victoria make it happen,” said Mike Finlayson, retired CFB Esquimalt firefighter and chair of the burn fund society.

The money will provide “tremendous relief to patients on the Island who suffer from burns and other complex wounds,” said Dr. Chris Taylor, head of the burn unit.

“The injuries these patients suffer from are some of the most difficult and painful to treat,” he said.

The fund also provides for peer support initiatives, burn training for nurses, and the society’s Burn House on Richmond Road, which provides a home away from home for families of burn patients receiving care at the Jubilee.